In Mexico, toy-making is one of the country’s most fascinating traditional arts, ranging from wooden toys, puppets and board games. Every child in Mexico has grown up with traditional toys & games such as the famous balero, trompo and loteria game. It’s an essential part of everyone’s childhood and culture, a tradition that you can continue with your own children through MexGrocer’s unique selection of authentic Mexican toys.

Listed below are some of the toys you’ll find at MexGrocer.com, as well as a brief history and information.

Balero

The balero known as a Cup-and-Ball in English is a toy that consists of a wooden cup that is attached to a handle by a string. It originated in Mexico during the 16th century and became a favorite game by King Henry III of France. The main goal of the balero is to get the wooden cup onto the handle; the game can be tricky since the players must not use any body part except the hand where the handle is situated. Whoever gets the wooden cup onto the handle is the winner.

Trompo

The trompo is another popular game that originated in Mexico and made its way to Japan, Spain and Latin America. A trompo resembles a top; it has a pear like shape and is most commonly made of wood. The toy has a button shaped tip on the top that is bigger then the tip at the bottom which is made from metal & is used to spin the trompo. This popular toy uses a string that is wrapped around it and is released when the trompo is thrown on the ground.

Another toy that is similar to the trompo is the pirinola, which also resembles a top and is traditionally made out of wood or plastic. The difference is that it has 6 sides with different directions written on each, so when it is thrown and the pironola spins the players must follow the directions on which it lands.

Board Games

Mexico also has very popular and traditional board games; among those are Loteria, Chinese pick up sticks, the great game of goose, chutes & ladders, Chinese and English checkers. The most popular game is Loteria also known as Lottery, this game is considered the Mexican “Bingo” since it is very similar to the American game, and is typically played at fairs (amusement parks). It is a game of chance that uses the images on a deck of cards; all players will have a randomly created table (paper) that has a different selection of images. A dealer will choose random cards from the deck and will call them out loud in a humorous tone. Players must mark the images on their tables that the dealer has called out, these are usually market with any type of game piece or marker, though it is common to use beans in Mexico. The first player to fill a whole row with their pieces, either a vertical, horizontal or diagonal row must shout “Lottery” and will automatically win.

You can find these and other fun games at MexGrocer.com provided by the famous brand La Mexicana, ranging from toy helicopters, matracas, action figures, maracas and much more. These toys and board games will bring endless hours of fun for your children and the whole family, they are ideal for kids’ parties, as well as being wonderful games for a fun family night.

Juguetes Tipicos de Mexico